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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 18 Dec 2014

Vol. 862 No. 3

Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Peace and Neutrality) Bill 2014: First Stage

Tairgim:

Go gceadófar go dtabharfar isteach Bille dá ngairtear Acht chun an Bunreacht a leasú.

I move:

That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Constitution.

This Bill sets out to have Ireland's neutral status affirmed by adherence to the provisions of the 1907 Hague Convention (V) respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land. According to Article 2 of the Hague Convention (V): "Belligerents are forbidden to move troops or convoys of either munitions of war or supplies across the territory of a neutral Power". Thus, from March 2003, Ireland could not be described as a neutral state. When Dr. Ed Horgan took a case against the State because it was in contravention of the Hague Convention, Mr. Justice Kearns stated that international law was clear on the duties and responsibilities of a neutral state, but that since such law was not part of the Constitution or domestic law, neutrality was simply policy, and if the Government wished to end it then he, as a judge, had no role in that decision.

The Fine Gael-Labour Party Government included the following clause in the programme for Government, "We will enforce the prohibition on the use of Irish airspace, airports and related facilities for purposes not in line with the dictates of international law.” However, to date, the Government has not done so.

The fact that Irish neutrality is a Government policy rather than a constitutional necessity represents a significant risk. It was clearly demonstrated in March 2003 that the Government, under the then Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, misled and railroaded Dáil Éireann into Irish participation in the US-led Iraq war by the simple expedient of issuing a declaration that participation in this war was not participation, thereby ending Irish neutrality while declaring falsely that Ireland was still neutral. To avoid such international and national wrongdoing in the future, it is vital that neutrality be included as an article in our Constitution by a referendum of the people, in order that only a referendum of the people can reverse that decision.

As John Lannon and Ed Horgan of Shannonwatch have pointed out, we have already abandoned neutrality by allowing US forces engaged in wars throughout the world to use Shannon Airport on a scale that was never permitted or envisaged prior to 2001. Since then, Ireland has provided direct support for unilateral military intervention by the US and its NATO allies, most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. This support has included facilitating the transit of 2.5 million armed troops plus additional military aircraft through Shannon Airport. It has also included the deployment of members of the Defence Forces with the NATO-led international security assistance force in Afghanistan. Therefore, we need to re-establish Irish neutrality first and then amend the Constitution to ensure it is not undermined or breached again.

The weight of diplomatic efforts of a neutral Ireland could be far greater than those of a non-neutral Ireland. In the latter case, supporting NATO, which is where we will eventually end up if we continue to dilute our neutrality, will mean that our foreign policy is effectively dictated by external, more powerful states. The alignment of Ireland with other states that are engaged in war presents a significant security threat to the people. Shannon Airport is now associated with the illegal US invasions and occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as military interventions in other parts of the world. This puts the airport at risk, and the only way to fully and clearly address that risk is to affirm Ireland's neutral and non-aligned status.

The Taoiseach has repeatedly defended the US landings in Shannon and indicated his trust in US assurances to a series of Governments to the effect that the planes were not being used in any way that violated Ireland's neutrality laws. The recent report into the CIA torture programme has unequivocally shown that these US assurances are worthless and that we would be foolish to continue to trust them. In the interests of State security, will the Government see the necessity of either stopping the US landings at Shannon or at the least checking the contents of every plane? We are already complicit in the illegal torture of countless prisoners, the majority of whom have been held in gulag-like conditions without trial for up to 13 years.

In 2007 the Irish Human Rights Commission conducted an extensive review of the matter and concluded that the State was not complying with its human rights obligations to prevent torture or inhuman or degrading treatment and that its reliance on the assurances of the US Governments was not good enough. In June 2011, the UN Committee Against Torture said it was concerned at the various reports of Ireland's alleged co-operation in a rendition programme, as part of which rendition flights used the State's parties, airports and airspace. The committee said it was also concerned about the inadequate response by the State in investigating these allegations.

Most of the information in the US Senate report relating to the different countries involved in the CIA torture programme was redacted under pressure from the Obama Administration and the CIA. If we care to get to the truth of the reported US military use of Shannon Airport for extraordinary rendition, we should ask the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence to supply the relevant sections of the full unredacted report as soon as possible.

Is the Bill opposed?

Cuireadh agus aontaíodh an cheist.
Question put and agreed to.

Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

Tairgim: "Go dtógfar an Bille in am Comhaltaí Príobháideacha."

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."

Cuireadh agus aontaíodh an cheist.
Question put and agreed to.
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